Lisbon, Nov.7 (Lusa) – Former world champion chess player and political activist, Garry Kasprov, on Wednesday warned about the dangers of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s “massive fake news industry.”
At a press conference held during Web Summit in Lisbon, which kicked off on Monday, Kasprov said he had issued several warnings in the past few years regarding the “technological risk” faced, adding that the “world is increasingly divided” and values are “being attacked” in Western democracies.
“It is almost natural for any authoritarian government to use technology to extend their power and the massive fake news industry that Putin has built was expected,” Kasprov said.
“I have to give them credit, because they built a cybercrime machine that not only seduced Russia and Eastern Europe, but also the United States and America,” he added.
Reminding the audience of Putin’s early career as a secret KGB agent, Kasparov said the current Russian leader “understood that the technological war is a very efficient low-cost war” which is “able to shake the pillars of democracy.”
Web Summit, Europe’s biggest technology event, includes a schedule of star speakers including António Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, European Union commissioner for competition Margrethe Vestager and former British prime minister Tony Blair. The event ends on Thursday.
JYGO/MWYP // ADB.
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